Crimping apparatus



1962 w. RAINARD ETAL 3,

CRIMPING APPARATUS 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 24, 1956 16, 1962 1.. w. RAINARD ET A]. 3,058,167

CRIMPING APPARATUS m M H WM e N u w m WW5 e r mm 5 1A. w A y N 5 Filed Dec. 24, 1956 1962 L. w. RAINARD ET Al. 3,058,161

CRIMP'ING APPARATUS 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Dec. 24, 1956 z 5 a/m M w 3 s/m 4% 2 mm; 4m 7 fi rm 6 6m INVENTORS 0 14 P/V/VAED.

5. SHA TTUCK Oct. 16, 1962 w. RAINARD ETA].

CRIMPING APPARATUS m y M U E 5. 1 mww W 2 $4 NV i1 WW ,1 11 ll lil l I I III Iii I m I IMUHW I WHWR (Mt l n HI H HHI H m w fillillfi 1 M m 5 a h E M l|l l l HUN lw n v Q? H W MH I I H N I 45 Filed De-c 3,058,167 CING APPARATUS Leo W. Rainard and Ewart H. Shattuclr, Wilmington,

DeL, assignors to Joseph Bancroft & Sons Co., Wilmington, Del., a corporation of Delaware Filed Dec. 24, 1956, Ser. No. 639,152 Elaims. (Cl. 19-66) This invention relates to an apparatus for crimping fibers, filament tow, yarn or thread and more particularly to apparatus of the stufier crimper type wherein the material to be crimped is fed between feed rolls into a confined chamber against the pressure of a mass of crimped material in said chamber.

An object of the invention is to provide novel and improved crimping apparatus of the above type.

Another object is to provide an apparatus of the above type having novel and improved means for setting the crimp.

Another object is to provide an apparatus of the type above in which the crimping conditions can be accurately regulated and controlled.

Various other objects and advantages will be apparent when the nature of the invention is more fully disclosed.

A feature of the invention is the provision of a setting chamber which is formed by a pair of moving conveyor belts positioned to receive the mass of crimped material from the crimping chamber or from the feed rolls and to hold the mass compacted while it is being subjected to setting treatment. Heat may be applied through the conveyor belts for heating the mass to a setting temperature. The belts may be formed of a pervious material such as wire mesh in which case a setting agent such as steam, or a resin setting agent, or hot air may be passed through the pervious belts into the mass of crimped material held compacted therebetween. In certain instances a portion of the path of the compacted material may be cooled or the compacted material may be discharged from heated belts to cooled belts which may be driven at a different speed so as to open up the material for cooling.

The invention is applicable to the treatment of textile fibers in the form of slubbing, roving, spun yarn, continuous filament tow or yarn, or thread.

The nature of the invention will be better understood by referring to the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which certain specific embodiments have been shown for purposes of illustration.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a broken top plan view of a crimping apparatus embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a section taken on the line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a broken top plan view of an apparatus embodying the present invention showing the use of a wire mesh conveyor belt;

FIG. 4 is a section taken on the line 44 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic view similar to FIG. 4 illustrating on a reduced scale a further embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a broken top plan view of an apparatus embodying the invention wherein the axis of the feed rolls is disposed normal to the plane of the conveyor belts;

FIG. 7 is a section taken on the line 77 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a top plan view similar to FIG. 6, illustrating the use of a separate conveyor belt for the cooling section;

FIG. 9 is a section taken on the line 99 of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a side elevation of an apparatus using a belt conveyor for confining the crimped fibers while passing through a treating tank and drying and setting zones;

FIG. 11 is a section taken on the line 1111 of FIG. 10; and

p 3,058,167 Patented Oct. 16, 1962 FIG. 12 is a detail view illustrating a further type of control device.

Referring to the drawings more in detail the invention is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 as comprising a pair of feed rolls 10 and 11 mounted on shafts 12 and 13 respectively and having intermeshing gears 14 and 15 respectively by which they are driven in synchronism. The shaft .13 of the roll 11 is shown as mounted on pivoted arms 47 and held in pressure engagement with the roll 10 by a spring 48 the tension of which is adjustable by a nut 49. The shaft 13 is driven by a belt 18 through a speed changing pulley 19, and an adjustable spring pressed clutch 20 which is adapted to limit the maximum driving force which can be applied to the shaft 13. The maximum force can be adjusted by means of an adjusting nut 21 which varies the tension of a spring 22. The clutch may be of the hysteresis type, if desired, in which case the maximum torque is controlled electrically.

Textile fibers 25 are fed to the bite of the feed rolls 10 and 11 through a tension device 26 and a guide 27. The rolls 1t) and 11 discharge into a tube 30 forming a crimping chamber. The entrance end of the tube 30 conforms to the bite of the feed rolls and is adapted to receive and retain a mass of crimped fibers.

The crimped fibers are discharged from the discharge end of the tube 30 between a pair of conveyor belts 35 and 36.

The conveyor belt 35 passes around rollers 37 and 38 mounted on shafts 46 and 4611 respectively and the con veyor belt 36 passes around rollers 39 and 40 mounted on shafts 42 and 42a respectively. The rollers are so positioned that the space between the conveyor belts 35 and 36 forms a continuation of the passage within the crimping chamber 30 so that the mass of crimped fibers is held compacted between the conveyor belts as the mass is advanced thereby to a discharge point. In order to assure that the compacting force is maintained on the mass of fibers throughout their passage between the belts 35 and 36 the belts are so disposed that their spacing decreases from the entrance end of the treating chamber where the fibers are received from the crimping chamber 30 to the exit end of the treating chamber where the fibers are released by the belts.

The shaft 42 carrying the roller 39 is driven by a motor 43 and carries a variable speed pulley 44 by which the belt 18 is driven. The pulleys 19 and 44 may be of any variable speed type such as a Reeves drive to permit adjustment of the speed ratio between the belt roller 39 and the feed roll 11. The shaft 42 carries a gear 45 meshing with a similar gear 45a on the shaft 46 carrying the roller 37 so that the two belts 35 and 36 are driven in synchronism.

The belts 35 and 36 may be heat resistant material such as silicone rubber or Teflon and may be heated by suitable means, indicated as heaters 50 and 51 which are disposed to heat the respective belts on opposite sides of the setting zone. Heat is thus transmitted to the crimped material as it advances along between the belts 35 and 36. The heaters 50 and 51 may be disposed along the first portion of the setting chamber so that the fibers are heated for a portion of their travel between the belts 35 and 36. During the remainder of the travel between the belts and prior to discharge the fibers may be cooled to a temperature to hold the crimp permanently therein. The members 50 and 51 also serve as guides to hold the belts 35 and 36 in pressure contact with the fibers as they advance.

The crimped fibers if compacted of continuous filaments are removed from the end of the setting zone by a suitable take-up device, shown as a guide roll 56, through a tensioning gate 55 which may be adjusted to maintain a predetermined tension on the yarn and to 3 remove any slubs or kinks which may be pulled out of the setting zone as the fibers are released by the belts 35 and 36. If the fibers are in the form of a slubbing or roving they may be discharged from the end of the conveyors into a suitable receiver or carding device.

It is to be understood of course that the belts 3S and 36 advance at a slow rate with respect to the feed rolls 10 and 11. This rate may be adjusted to correspond to the rate at which the crimped fibers are fed through the crimped chamber 30 due to the action of the feed rolls. The rate may be adjusted, however, to control thereby the back pressure of the mass of crimped fibers on the fibers being fed into the crimping chamber by the feed rolls 10 and 11.

If the rate of the belts is increased, for example, the fibers are removed from the end of the crimping chamber at a more rapid rate with a consequent reduction in the back pressure exerted on the fibers which are being fed into the chamber 30 by the feed rolls 10 and 11. On the other hand if the rate of the belts is decreased the back pressure is correspondingly increased.

If moisture is required for setting, the fibers may be premoistened before being fed into the crimping chamber. The heat supplied by the heating devices 50 and 51 may be controlled in a manner to effect the necessary setting while the fibers remain in the setting Zone between the belts 35 and 36.

In the case of thermoplastic fibers which are relaxed by heat it is usually preferable to cool the fibers below the relaxing temperature while they are still held compacted. This may be accomplished in the above described embodiment by providing an unheated portion of the conveyor flight beyond the heating members 50 and 51. The ratio of the heating zone to the cooling zone is so designed as to produce the desired temperature control.

In order to wind the crimped yarn on a take-up device without producing kinks or slugs it is usually preferable to pull the yarn from the discharge end of the setting zone under tension by the take-up roll 56 before the mass of crimped yarn has been released by the conveyors 35 and 36.

The embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 is generally similar to the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 and the corresponding parts have been given the same reference characters. In this embodiment, however, the conveyor belts 35a and 36a are made of a pervious material such as wire mesh or parallel wires which may be electrical resistance type wires so that one or both of the belts may be heated by the passage of an electric current therethrough. Such heating current may be applied for example from leads 60 and brushes 61 and 62 which engage conducting rings 63 and 64 respectively on the shafts 46 and 46a of the rollers 37 and 38. It is to be understood that the shafts are electrically isolated from ground for this purpose and the rollers 37 and 38 are made of conducting material to feed current through the wire belt 35a. A setting agent may be introduced through the pervious belt 35a from ahood 65.

If desired, the electrical heating means may be omitted and a setting agent, such as steam, at liquid setting agent or hot air, may be introduced into the mass of fibers between the belts 35a and 36a from the hood 65. The belt 35:: may in that case be made of a non-conducting pervious material such as perforated rubber or the like. The operation of this embodiment of the invention is otherwise similar to that above described.

In the embodiment of FIG. the arrangement is generally similar to that above described with the exception that the upper belt 35b is made considerably shorter than the lower belt 361) and heat or other setting agent is supplied from a hood 68 through the belt 35b to the mass of crimped material in the setting zone. Heat may also be applied from the heating device 69 through the belt 36b. The element 69 also serves as a guide to hold the lower belt 36b in pressure contact with the fibers.

It will be noted that in this embodiment the fibers are first fed by the feed rolls 10 and 11 into the crimping chamber in the tube 30 from which they are discharged onto the lower belt 36b, where they are unconfined for a short distance in advance of the upper belt 3512. This permits the fibers to open up slightly and to correspondingly increase their bulk.

They are then engaged and confined by the upper belt 35b while being subjected to setting conditions. The fibers then advance on the belt 36b beyond the zone of the belt 35b in an unconfined condition for cooling or drying before they are discharged at the end of the upper flight of the belt 36b. By releasing the pressure on the fibers in this manner during the cooling stage the passage of cooling air through the fibers is facilitated and the fibers tend to open up and become fuller or fiufiicr. The belt 3511 may be made of pervious material to permit passage of the setting agent therethrough into the mass of crimped fibers.

In the embodiment of FIGS. 6 and 7 the general arrangement is similar to that above described except that the crimping chamber is formed by a pair of conveyor belts which are disposed in a plane parallel to the end faces of the feed rolls 10 and 11 and extend past the bite of the feed rolls. The back pressure on the material in the crimping chamber is controlled by varying the drag on the conveyor belts.

Referring more in detail to FIGS. 6 and 7 the feed roll 10 is driven by motor 43 through shaft 42 and bevel gears 70. The feed rolls 10 and 11 are driven in synchronism by intermeshing gears 14 and 15 as in FIG. 1.

The belts 35c and 36c extend over the end faces of the feed rolls 10 and 11 so as to form with the rolls a confined crimping chamber. The belts 350 and 36c pass forwardly around rollers 37a and 39a on shafts 46c and 420 which are coupled by meshing gears 45b and 450, and pass rearwardly around rollers 38 and 40. Belts 35c and 36c may be adjusted in position by adjustable shoes 71 and 72 respectively. Suitable heating members 68a and 6% are disposed on opposite sides of the setting zone as above described for applying heat to the confined mass of fibers as they advance between the belts.

The belts 35c and 360 are free to be advanced by the pressure exerted by the material being fed between the feed rolls 1!) and 11 into the crimping chamber formed in the space enclosed by the bite of the feed rolls and by the belts adjacent thereto. In order to control the back pressure exerted on this material an adjustable friction drag 73 is associated with the shaft 420. This drag is shown as comprising a friction disk 74- keyed to the shaft 42c and a fixed disk 75 held in friction contact with the disk 74 by a spring 76, the tension of which can be adjusted by a nut 77. Adjustment of the drag 73 controls the crimp characteristics.

The belts 35c and 360 are driven in unison by gears 45b and 450. These gears may be omitted if desired and a similar friction drag applied to the belt 350 to control independently the movement of the two belts. Of course the belts may be coupled to be driven by the motor 43 as in FIGS. 1 and 2 if the free running feature is not required in any particular instance.

In order to confine the sides of the mass of crimped material advancing with the belts 35c and 360 a. third belt 78 is disposed between the belts 35c and 360 in a plane normal thereto to bear against a third side (in FIG. 6) of the mass of crimped material in the setting zone. This belt 78 passes around rollers 79 and 80. The roller 79 is disposed as close to the feed roll 11 as possible so as to leave a minimum amount of unconfined area for the crimped material.

The fourth side of the mass is shown as confined by a fixed plate 81 which is disposed between the belts 35c the feed roll 10.

The belt 78 may be replaced by a fixed plate or the plate 81 may be replaced by a belt depending upon the effect to be obtained. The belt 78 is shown as free running but may be driven or may be restrained by a friction drag if necessary.

The crimped and set product is withdrawn from the setting zone between the belts above described by roll 56 and tension drag 55 as in FIG. 1.

In the embodiment of FIGS. 8 and 9 the position of the feed rolls 10 and 11 and the crimping chamber 30 is similar to that shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and the same reference characters have been applied.

In this embodiment the belts 35d and 36d provide the heating zone and a second pair of belts 35:2 and 36:: provide the cooling zone. Roller 38 is driven with roller 37 by chain 83 and sprockets 84 and 85. The belts 35c and 36e are passed over rollers 86 and 87, respectively, which are driven by intermeshing' gears 88 and 89, respectively. The roller 86 is driven from the roller 38 by means of gears 90 and 91 through an idler gear 92. The gears 90 and 91 may be selected in accordance with the ratio desired between the belts 35d and 36d and the belts 35c and 36e. A fixed guide tube 93 is provided between the discharge end of the belts 35d and 36d and the entrance end of the belts 35e and 36c so as to form a continuous confined passage for the crimped fibers during their entire travel from the feed rolls to the discharge end of the belts 35s and 36e.

In this embodiment suitable setting agents such as heat, hot air, steam or a setting liquid may be applied to the fibers in the heating zone between the belts 35d and 360! from a source indicated as a hood 94, and suitable cooling means such as cold air may be passed through the crimped fibers between the belts 35c and 36e from a source indicated as a hood 95. The belts 35d and 35e may be made previous for the passage of such fluids. It will be understood that in this embodiment the fibers are fed by the feed rolls into the crimping chamber 30 and are removed from the crimping chamber 30 into the setting zone between the belts 35d and 36d which discharge the fibers into the guide tube 93. The fibers are removed from the guide tube 93 into the cooling zone between the belts 3512 and 36:: by which they are conveyed to a discharge point where they are removed under tension as previously described. It may be desirable to advance the belts 35c and 36a constituting a cooling zone at a slightly higher rate than the belts 35d and 36d so as to open up the fibers slightly in the cooling zone and facilitate the passage of the cooling air therethrough. This also serves to increase the flufliness of the fibers which are finally discharged.

In all of the above embodiments the fibers are maintained compacted between the conveyor belts so that the original crimp is maintained during the setting and cooling stages. The final crimp can be accurately controlled by varying the original crimping conditions, that is the temperature and back pressure on the fibers at the bite of the feed rolls.

Referring to FIGS. 10 and 11, the yarn 100 to be crimped is fed through tension device 101 and guide 102 to feed rolls 103 and 104 which discharge the yarn into a mass of crimped yarn in a tube 105 forming a crimping chamber as in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2. The rolls 103 and 104 are geared together to be driven in unison and the roll 103 is driven by belt 106 and cooperating pulleys from shaft 107 of a motor 108. A friction device 109 limits the torque applied to the shaft of roll 103, as described in connection with the embodiment of FIG. 1.

The tube 105 discharges the crimped fibers between conveyor belts 110 and 111 which are adapted to confine the mass of crimped fibers therebetween and to convey them through treating and setting zones.

The belts 110 and 111 pass around guide rolls 113 and 114 respectively at the discharge end of the tube 105, thence into a treating liquid 115 in a treating tank 116 around guide rolls 117 and 118. The liquid 115 may be of a type to condition the fibers for setting, such as hot water, a chemical setting agent, or a resin composition, as set forth in Rainard application Serial No. 570,145, filed March 7, 1956, and now US Patent No. 2,854,701. A preheater 119 may be disposed in advance of the tank 116 to preheat the fibers.

The belts 110 and 111 with the fiber mass therebetween are passed between squeeze rolls 120 to remove excess treating agent, thence around rolls 122 and 123 respectively where the belts separate to discharge the fibers and return to the rolls 1 14 and 113 respectively.

The rolls 122 and 123 are geared together to be driven in unison and the roll 122 is connected to be driven from the motor 108 by a belt 124 and reducing gears 125. The belt 124 may pass around adjustable drive pulleys 126 and 127 for adjusting the driving ratio between the feed rolls 103 and 104 and the belts 110 and 111.

The crimped filament or yarn is withdrawn from the compacted mass at the discharge end of the belts 110 and 111, under. tension by a winder 130 having a driven roll 131, a traversing guide .132 and a tension device 133. The winder is driven by a motor 134.

For controlling the rate of withdrawal by the winder the roll 123 is mounted on a pivoted am 136 which is biased by spring 137 to hold the belt 111 in pressure engagement with the mass of fibers in the discharge zone between the rolls 122 and 123. The arm 136 is adapted to actuate a microswitch 138 which is connected to control the driving circuit of either the motor 108 or the motor 134.

If the belts 110 and 111 are constantly driven by the motor 108 the switch 138 will be connected to stop the winder motor 134 when the roll 123 shifts toward the roll 122 as a result of yarn being withdrawn from between the rolls 122 and 123 at too rapid a rate with respect to the feed of crimped yarn to the discharge zone by the belts 110 and 111, and will restart the motor 134 when the rolls 122 and 123 again separate as more material is fed therebetween.

The friction drive 109 limits the amount of yarn fed into the crimping tube 105 to the amount withdrawn by the belts 110 and 111.

Alternately, the winder may operate continuously and the switch 133 may be connected to control the operation of the feed motor 108 so as to maintain a predetermined quantity of material at the discharge zone between the rolls 122 and 123. t

In this embodiment the crimped fibers are held compacted throughout their passage through treating and setting zones which may be the length necessary to provide the required time of treatment. At the same time the crimping chamber may be maintained relatively short so as to limit the back pressure in accordance with the crimping requirements of the fibers being treated.

FIG. 12 illustrates a further means to control the feed of the fibers. In this embodiment the rolls 122 and 123 are mounted in fixed relationship and a plunger 140 rests on the fibers at the discharge zone and is movable longitudinally in response to variations in the quantity of crimped fibers in said zone.

The plunger 140 is slidably held in brackets 141 and is formed with an axial bore 142 through which the yarn is withdrawn as in FIG. 10. The plunger 140 is adapted to actuate a switch 143 which is connected to control the operation of either the feed motor or the winder motor so as to maintain the plunger 140 at a constant level.

When treating low denier continuous filaments it is usually advantageous to impart a low twist to the filaments prior to crimping. This reduces the breakage and improves the yarn characteristics.

It is to be understood that various adaptations and modifications may be made in the above described apparatus as will be apparent to a person skilled in the art.

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for crimping textile fibers, comprising a pair of feed rolls, said feed rolls having oppositely disposed parallel flat end surfaces and a pair of conveyor belts closely adjacent and parallel to the plane of said surfaces and spaced apart to conform thereto, Whereby said conveyor belts form with the bite of said feed rolls a confined Zone adapted to contain a packed mass of crimped fibers, said feed rolls being adapted to feed said fibers into said mass for crimping, means mounting said conveyor belts for movement at a rate to maintain a predetermined back pressure on said mass of crimped fibers, and means maintaining the fibers between said belts under setting conditions.

2. A crimping apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which said last mentioned means includes heating means disposed on opposite sides of said belts for heating the fibers therebetween to a temperature for setting the crimp therein.

3. A crimping apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which said belts are movable in response to the pressure exerted by the incoming fibers against said packed mass and an adjustable retarding means is provided for retarding the movement of said belts for thereby controlling said back pressure.

4. A crimping apparatus as set forth in claim 1 including additional walls disposed between said belts for confining the sides of said mass of fibers.

5. A crimping apparatus as set forth in claim 4 in which at least one of said walls comprises an endless belt disposed to advance with said mass of fibers.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,719,899 Mudd July 9, 1929 2,394,165 Getaz Feb. 5, 1946 2,500,690 Lannan Mar. 14, 1950 2,575,838 Rainard Nov. 20, 1951 2,669,001 Keen Feb. 16, 1954 2,740,992 Shattuck Apr. 10, 1956 2,908,044 Whitney Oct. 13, 1959 

